A Journey Through Time (unedited) -Time Slipping Away Chronicles Volume 1-

Mordred

As soon as Morgawse left I immediately relived myself from Uther's side and went to see Morgan le Fay. I knew she would need me now and be more than likely crying alone in her room. My guess was correct when I found Morgan le Fay she was in as small of a ball as she could manage, in her swollen state and she was bawling into the sheets.

I walked into the room saying nothing but got into bed with her and lent her my shoulder for her to cry into. We sat there for who knows how long, the grief was epic and I knew that Morgan le Fay would not recover from the lose of her other sister. As I patted her hair I worried for the baby inside of her and knew that the stress wasn't going to be good for it.

I left Morgan le Fay late that night after she had cried herself to sleep and set a guard to her door to come and awake me if she stired. I prayed that she would sleep through the night uninterupted.

I was not so lucky. I got called back to her room around four in the morning with a guard telling me that she was making noises like she was in pain.

When I came into her room it was clear to me that she was having contractions. Wether or not that meant the baby was coming I did not know. I immediately told the guard to go and send someone to the cottage where Alden had gone to for a few days to collect herbs and take a mini vacation for some rest. I also ordered the guard to bring me hot water, cloths, my bag of herbs and the kettle in my room downstairs. I wiped my forehead, this day was getting longer and longer.

When the guard came back he was accompanied by four towns women who were hired to help me with this process. Since men felt like this was a woman's job once I was handed all that I asked for, the guard when outside the door to wait for me to call on him.

I had learned that the presence of so many bodies could raise the temperature of a room and I had also gotten a fire going while the guard was gone to help heat the room but I knew the bodies would be the biggest help. I set one of the women to dumping the herbs that had been brought it me into my kettle and set over the stove to boil to fill the air with the healing aroma of the herbs. I had the three other woman help me get Morgan le Fay up into a squatting position with her head above the headboard of the bed and the nice comforter off of the bed so they wouldn't get dirty. One of the women had brought an ointment that she applied to Morgan le Fay's stomach to help ease the pain. It was also told to me that this ointment would quicken the child birthing process but I doubted it but said nothing on the topic and let the woman do as she saw fit.

Birth was usually expected within 20 contractions. Morgan le Fay was on her thirtieth when one of the woman told the guard outside to get everyone in the household to help the child along by opening cupboards and drawers, unlocking chests, untying knots, or even shooting an arrow into the air. All of these acts were symbolic of opening the womb. Once I again I found myself biting my tongue and trying not to laugh as I kept a warm wash cloth on Morgan le Fay's forehead to try and make her more comfortable. I knew gs would be a long birthing process since she was a little less than a month early in her delivery.

When she hit her fourth fifth contraction she started giving birth. I would go into details but I'm much to traumatized to want to relive this horrible moment in my life. I didn't want to know how children were made by women and now I know much more than I ever wanted to. So for my sanity I am going to leave out the birthing process though I will say about it, that I was extremely scary.

All in all it went well, I tied off and cut the umbilical cord and help the baby take its first breath, clearing its mouth and throat of any mucus by putting it on my shoulder and lighting hitting its back to make it cough it all out. Then I bathed the child in warm milk mixed with wine, salt, olive oil, and rose petals. Also true to the superstitions of the time I washed the baby's tongue with hot water and rubbed honey on its stomach to give the child an appetite.

The infant was then be swaddled snugly in linen strips so that his limbs might grow straight and strong, and laid in a cradle in a dark corner, where his eyes would be protected from bright light. Once the baby was safe in the crib that I had bough in town months before I turned to tend to Morgan le Fay. The child remained unnamed, as was the practice then, until it's baptism.

Morgan le Fay however was dead. The strain of the baby and loss of her sisters was to much for her weakened state to be able to push through. I tried. I did everything I could think of to revive her. However she was gone.

I screamed and when the guard came and saw my distorted face over Morgan le Fay he left without a word to me. I assumed it was to tell the King of the news about his step daughters fate but I was to far gone to worry or care about it. The woman inside of the chamber tried to reason with me but after an hour or so of my crying hysterically they left the castle with an escort of guards telling them that if they told anyone of what happened tonight that they would be hung for treason. They were paid the money due to them and they went back to their normal everyday lives.

I stayed with Morgan le Fay all of that night and into the next morning. I had a guard that held me down and force fed me lunch after I had refused to many times but other than that I just sat next to my friend in sorrow. I was there when Alden finally had gotten to the castle. In Morgan le Fay's room was were he found me, he checked out Morgan le Fay and when he realized what I had already known he removed me from the room forcefully with the help of three guards.

They brought me downstairs to my room and left me in my bedroom wailing, my only saving grace was that they brought the baby to. Leaving the child in my room with me telling me that it was the Kings orders that I take care of the next King after Arther. The Prince would be mine to raise and teach and care for.

The child at first disgusted me. It was the child that killed my friend and was the love child of sibling rape. I tried to hate the child that was unlovable in my eyes. But I broke when the poor baby cried out after a few hours. I walked to the crib that had been placed in my room and found that the child's blue eyes like Morgan le Fay's were drawing me in. The child upon seeing me stopped crying and smiled. That was when I gave in completely, I couldn't hate the child even if I wanted to and the sins of the mother and more importantly the sins of the father do not affect the child, this new life who is pure to the world and needs protecting.

First priority was feeding the child, I wasn't sure how long a child could go without food but I did know that I had neglected the poor thing for to long. I needed an alternative to breast feeding the child. After asking around I found a few alternatives methods of feeding the child included soaking bread in milk for the child to ingest, soaking a rag in milk for the child to suckle, or pouring milk into his mouth from a horn. I went with all the methods a over and found that the child preferred the milk soaked bread which was a luxury but since the child would be the future king I knew that Uther would pay for it.

After a few days past me and Alden prepared for the Baptism.

A child was usually baptized on the day he was born. The mother would stay at home, not only to recuperate, but because the Church generally followed the Jewish custom of keeping women from holy places for several weeks after giving birth. The father would assemble the godparents, and together with the midwife they would all bring the child to the church. This procession would frequently include friends and relatives, and could be quite festive.

This however was not a normal case at all so it took a few day to order everything that needed to be done. The ceremony was held in the private Church reserved for the King and the priest came three days after the birth. I was named the God mother of the child since I would be taking care of it and even though Merlin wasn't here he was named the godfather.

The priest blessed the baby put salt in its mouth to represent the reception of wisdom, and exorcise any demons. Then the priest anoint the child, immerse him in the font, and name him, Mordred Pendragon. I raise the baby up from the water and wrap him in a christening gown. The gown, or crysom, was made of white linen and was decorated with seed pearls. The last part of the ceremony took place at the altar, where the godparents, me, made the profession of faith for the child. Then we went to the dinning all and feasted in celebration of the new life and future King of the country.